Chapter Sixty

'I thought finding him would be easier.' 

A long time passed after I left my room to look for Peter in the east area of the palace since Mary told me it was where I could find him.

But just like the other areas of the palace, the east area is immense.

'And the worst part is that I know nothing about this part of the palace. I'm far lost already.' I thought, annoyed.

Since I didn't want to bump into any of the servant kids who tried to pick a fight with me in the Servant's Hall, I turned invisible to walk through the east area freely. And doing so, I saw many servant boys passing by while I was there. They probably were all going to the Servant's Hall to have dinner, but none of them was wearing a yellow crystal necklace.

Tired, I sighed.

"This way I will never find him." I murmured, frustrated, after walking more and more into the east area.

But then I slapped my forehead, after realizing my stupidity.

'I could just ask someone.' I realized.

In a corridor with no one around I turned visible again, but I changed my appearance. Some servants in this area might know me from the incident in the Servant's Hall, so they could treat me just as rude as the kids did back then, to avoid that I slightly changed my looks.

I turned my hair blonde and my eyes blue, and thanks to the clothes Prince Noah gave me I looked like a noble child. I could easily pass for a guest.

I ran towards the first servants I saw, they were a small group of young men and women.

"Excuse me, do any of you know where Peter, the servant boy with a yellow crystal necklace is?" I asked them about Peter based on the few things I knew about him.

The servants looked at each other, probably surprised and confused by my sudden approach.

The only one to answer me was one of the young men. 

"I've heard about this boy, Peter. He spends most of his time in the stable taking care of the prince's horse. I wouldn't be surprised if he might still be there."

"Thank you, mister!" I said excited to finally have a clue where Peter could be. Excited I quickly left the servants behind, rushing to find Peter.

But then I stopped myself, and shamefully, I turned around and walked back towards them.

"...W-Where the stable is?"

*** 

For a moment I thought I was lost. 

The stable was outside the palace, near the east area. I followed the direction the servant told me, but the first building I found seemed nothing like the image of a stable I had in my head.

It seemed like a rustic well made wooden house from the outside with luxurious ornaments, if the doors weren't open and I didn't see the horses inside, I wouldn't believe that it was a stable at all.

The interior design was beautiful and had a clean aspect. Since it was a stable I expected it to be quite dirty, but even the ground was paved, everything was spotless.

Looking outside through the door I couldn't see anyone but the horses inside their stalls. Even so, I went inside and decided to pass by the extensive corridor of horses, hoping to find Peter there. 

'Wow, they are so beautiful.' I thought admiring the horses as I was passing by their stalls.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Someone suddenly asked, startling me.

The stall on my right side was open and there was a boy inside with an incredibly white elegant horse. It seemed the boy was grooming the horse before he talked to me since he was holding a horse brush while staring at me.

"This is the royal stable, it is not a place anyone can enter as they wish." He said firmly, glaring at me.

He was a dark-haired boy with brown eyes, and because of his humble clothes I noticed he was a servant, but the first thing that caught my attention was his necklace.

'It isn't yellow, it is amber.' I thought, remembering what Mary told me.

The cord of the necklace was made of silver and there was a well-polished roundy amber stone shining beautifully even with the weak light inside the stables.

"...Are you perhaps Peter?" I asked with a smile, though the boy was glaring fiercely at me.

The boy raised one eyebrow while looking at me from head to toe. "And you are the new servant of Prince Noah, aren't you?"

I was surprised by him knowing who I was. 

"Yes, I am Alex, Prince Noah's servant." I presented myself, raising my hand to greet him, but he just looked at my hand, and then at my eyes.

"What do you want?" Peter asked narrowing his eyes, ignoring my greeting.

"I…I just wanted to meet you." I said, feeling stupid.

I was so focused on finding Peter that I didn't stop to think about what I should say to him.

Peter kept staring at me, and then he said annoyed. "I have no time for you."

He turned away in the direction of the horse and started to brush the horse as if I wasn't there.

"D-Do you still have work to do?" I asked, quite surprised a child still had to work even at night.

Without answering me Peter kept grooming the horse, for a moment, I thought he didn't hear me.

"How long do you still have to stay here, Peter?" I asked watching the boy patting the horse as soon as he finished brushing it.

But again, Peter didn't answer me. 

'Is he ignoring me?' I asked myself, annoyed.

Peter left the stall, I thought he was coming in my direction, but he just went to grab something, it was a basket with carrots. 

The horse seemed excited to see the carrots, and Peter quickly started feeding the horse. While doing that Peter had a soft smile on his face.

"He is really beautiful, isn't he?" I asked looking in a daze at the horse which was excitedly eating the carrots. 

"She is beautiful." Peter suddenly shouted, startling me. 

"It is a mare, you idiot." He said, annoyed, looking at me for the first time in a while.

"I-I am sorry." I apologized, suddenly feeling ashamed of myself because of Peter's reaction.

Peter sighed. 

"What are you still even doing here? You said you wanted to meet me, you met me so you can leave now." Peter said, impatiently looking at me as if I was a nuisance.

"I…" 

I didn't know what to say. Mary made it look like it would be so easy to approach Peter, but he showed otherwise. He seemed like he wanted nothing to do with me.

But still, I came all this way. I shouldn't leave without even trying.

"I want your help." I answered him, being straightforward.

"Ha." Peter laughed sarcastically.

"Just because I used to be Prince Dylan's servant, you think I should help you? Because we are peers or some shit?" He asked frowning, crossing his arms pretentiously.

"Y-You were Prince Dylan's servant?!" I asked in disbelief. 

Peter raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know that?"

I shook my head. "No, I wasn't aware you used to be Prince Dylan's servant at all."

'Was it then why Mary told me to look for him? Because Peter used to be Prince Dylan's servant?' I asked myself, surprised.

"Why did you look for me to help you then?" Peter asked confused.

"Because someone told me you could help me…" I said those words realizing how naive I sounded.

Peter's expression softened after hearing that, he uncrossed his arms, lowering his guard. But he still seemed wary of me.

"Tsk. Why do you even need my help? Knowing how pampered you are by Prince Noah, why not just ask for his help?" 

'P-Pampered?' 

I felt a little offended by his words, but compared to how most servants are treated, I knew I was indeed receiving privileged treatment.

"To be honest, it is not something I want to trouble Prince Noah with…You probably saw how complicated was to me when I went to the Servant's Hall some time ago. Someone said you could help me with that." I explained honestly.

"I didn't see that, I wasn't there, but I've heard of it." Peter said looking at me with a bit more compassion in his eyes.

"You weren't there? Then how did you know who I was before I even presented myself?" I asked, confused.

"I've seen you a few times walking around the palace by Prince Noah's side. Besides, it is easy to spot you, you were quite the talking among the servants since Prince Noah made you his servant. Every servant in this palace might know who you are." Peter explained.

"T-They were talking about me, why?" I asked, suddenly feeling embarrassed. 

Peter sighed as if I was an idiot for not knowing that. 

"After Prince Noah more than once mobilized tons of servants just to find you, people were shocked at how interested in you the prince seemed to be. He gave you expensive clothes, set up a guest room for you to sleep in, and even kept having his meals with you almost every day. People couldn't stop talking about how… Forget it, these people just love making some stupid gossip, that is all." Peter said the last words clenching his teeth, he seemed mad all of a sudden, but I could tell it wasn't because of my behalf. 

I did know people didn't like my relationship with Prince Noah, but I didn't know they were all so invested about everything that happens between us. For some reason, I felt nervous.

"Don't worry, kid. You are just a new thing people found to talk about, soon they will find something else." Peter said like he wanted to cheer me up.

"I see. That makes sense…" I said while trying to keep myself calm. In my past life, I was never the type of person who liked people's attention, actually, I constantly avoided it.

I shook my head, tossing these past feelings aside.

"Forget about that, then. Now, about what I said, would you help me?" I asked, again.

Peter crossed his arms. "What would I even gain helping you?"

"Is there anything you want?" Although there aren't many things I can do, I still wanted to know how I could help Peter. 

If he would help me, it is just fair for me to help him back.

Peter seemed to be thinking for a long moment. I didn't know if he was still pondering if he would help me or if he was just deciding what he would ask me in compensation. But he did seem lost in his thoughts.

"...There is something I want." He said with a sudden decided look in his eyes.

"What is it?" I asked, feeling genuinely curious because of how long he made me wait for an answer.

"The pass to enter the royal library." Peter answered, crossing his arms.

"Do you mean the private library where no one can enter besides the royalty? I'm sorry but I can't help with that." I quickly said, thinking he was going crazy.

'Even I want to go there, but I can't.' I thought, feeling frustrated.

"No, not this one, the main library where mostly only nobles guests, and the royal family can enter." Peter explained, referring to the library where I spent most of my days in the last two years.

"Oh, is there a pass for servants like us to freely use the library?" I asked, interested. 

Peter nodded. "Yes, it is not common, usually only high-rank servants have those passes, but I'm confident you can get one for me."

"How so?" I asked, confused by his confidence, I myself didn't have one.

"If you ask Prince Noah, I am sure he will give you a pass." Peter affirmed confidently. 

'He might be right.' I thought seeing no reason why Prince Noah would deny it for me. 

"But why would you want this pass, if I may ask?" I asked, intrigued. Usually, a permission to enter a library isn't what most young teen boys would ask for.

Peter narrowed his eyes looking at me, but then he looked away. He didn't seem comfortable sharing his reasons.

But I didn't change the subject. "Can you tell me, please? If you don't, I'm not sure if I can go on with giving the library pass to you."

I know that wanting to read would be the most obvious answer, but if Peter just wanted to read some books there is a public library in the capital city not so far from the palace, so he could easily go there in his free days to borrow some books.

If I were going to give him a pass to the library I should know at least his motivation. If Peter had any malicious intention of asking for this pass, his misdeeds and faults would also fall on me.

Peter sighed, frustrated. He gave a quick look around as if to make sure there was no one around to hear but me.

"I know it is stupid, but I want to try to ingress in the Aurion Academy. If I achieve a good score on the entrance exam I may be selected for a full scholarship. It might be hard, but I still wanna give it a try." Peter explained avoiding my eyes, he seemed embarrassed.

"Wow, that is amazing!" I said, surprised.

The Aurion Academy is the best school in this nation, mostly only nobles and some kids from rich families go to this renowned school. It is also a common tradition for the royal children to study there when they turn fifteen years old. 

"But I didn't know they had scholarships there." I said, thinking out loud. 

I just know about the Aurion Academy because some books I've read mentioned it, and so, curious I read about the story of the school. It is one of the oldest schools built to educate the noble children of the realm while also forging a sense of unity among the young aristocracy.

After a century or so after it's creation, the academy started to accept commoners too, but only if they were capable of paying the expensive fee of the school. So, since then, only children of rich businessmen and noble children studied there.

'There was nothing saying about scholarships in the book.' I remembered.

"Five years ago, thanks to the King's influence, the school started offering scholarships, but only for those who can't afford the full price of the school fee and achieve a high score in the entrance exams. So, now even a servant like me can study there without needing to pay. It is hard, but still possible." Peter explained, and by how he was talking, I could see he seemed genuinely interested in the school.

'So the book I read was outdated, then.' I realized, also feeling a bit surprised that it was under the King's influence that common children could get access to such a renowned school. 

"I see, you want to use the royal library so you can study for the entrance exam during your free time, is that right?" I asked.

"Yes, that is my plan." Peter answered, with confidence.

"Alright. You will help me with the other servants and I will give you the library pass. What do you think? Is it a deal?" I asked, offering my hand.

Peter nodded and held my hand firmly. 

"It is a deal."